This application claims the priority of International Application No. PCT/DE2007/001788, filed Oct. 6, 2007, and German Patent Document No. 10 2006 048 685.4, filed Oct. 14, 2006, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a turbine vane of a gas turbine, in particular of a gas turbine aircraft engine.
Turbine vanes of a gas turbine, such as, for example, a gas turbine aircraft engine, are exposed to high temperatures and aggressive media during operation so that the turbine vanes are coated to protect surfaces with thermal barrier coatings among other things. For this purpose, known turbine vanes are coated in practice on an outer surface of their vane base body, which forms a suction side and a pressure side of the turbine vane, with a thermal barrier coating having a constant layer thickness. Turbine vanes known from practice are consequently provided with thermal barrier coatings on the outer surface of a vane base body, which have a constant and therefore uniform layer thickness.
It is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,036 that a turbine vane, namely a stationary guide vane of a turbine, be coated only partially on regions with a thermal barrier coating, wherein, according to U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,036, the thermal barrier coating extends over a section of the suction side of the turbine vane and wherein the remaining section of the suction side as well as the pressure side of the turbine vane bear no thermal barrier coating whatsoever. The disadvantage of this is that the turbine vanes can be quickly damaged on interfaces between the sections that are coated and not coated with thermal barrier coating.
Starting herefrom, the present invention is based on the object of creating a novel turbine vane of a gas turbine.
According to the invention, the thermal barrier coating extends continuously or uninterruptedly at least largely over the suction side and largely over the pressure side of the surface of the vane base body, with the layer thickness of the thermal barrier coating being variable or adjustable.
In terms of the present invention, a turbine vane is provided, whose thermal barrier coating extends uninterruptedly at least largely over the suction side and largely over the pressure side of the surface of the vane base body, with the layer thickness of the thermal barrier coating being variable.
The layer thickness of the thermal barrier coating can be adapted so exactly to the varying thermal stress of the surface regions of the turbine vane, and namely without the risk of damage to the interfaces between the coated and uncoated sections of the surface. This makes is possible to increase the service life of the turbine vanes.
The vane base body is preferably adapted in terms of its surface contour in the region of the suction side and pressure side to the variable or adjustable layer thickness of the thermal barrier coating such that the vane base body compensates for the variable or adjustable layer thickness of the thermal barrier coating so that the combination of the vane base body and the thermal barrier coating provides the desired aerodynamic profile of the turbine vane.